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Transitions between two pictorial attractors
1School of Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200. ramgdd@bigpond.com
Nonlinear Dynamics, Psychology, and Life Sciences
|December 20, 2003
Summary
This study on visual stimuli reveals complex similarity judgments, showing zones of uncertainty and overlapping attractors during perceptual transitions. Findings offer insights into neural network dynamics and category perception.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Computational Neuroscience
- Perception Science
Background:
- Previous research utilized Man-Woman and Gypsy-Girl pictorial series to demonstrate hysteresis in category judgments of ambiguous figures.
- These series have been previously modeled using neural network theory and mapped onto cusp catastrophe surfaces.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore similarity judgments on pairs and triplets of stimuli from pictorial series.
- To investigate the complex dynamics of perceptual transitions between prototypes.
Main Methods:
- Two experiments were conducted using Man-Woman and Gypsy-Girl stimuli, which gradually change between prototypes.
- Similarity judgments were collected for pairs and triplets of stimuli drawn from these series.
Main Results:
- The transition process exhibited a zone of uncertainty.
- Bimodality was prevalent in many pairwise similarity judgments.
- The dynamics suggest transitions between overlapping saddle-node attractors, not discrete pairs.
Conclusions:
- Perceptual transitions between visual prototypes are complex, involving uncertainty and multiple stable states.
- Similarity judgments reflect underlying dynamics that can be interpreted through attractor theory.
- Findings contribute to understanding neural network behavior and category perception models.